Travel

PACAYA VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK, Guatemala — Midway into our hour-and-a-half, shirt-soaking hike up one of this country’s most active volcanoes, my city-girl leg muscles cramped, stalling our attempt to reach the crest flowing with lava and return before sunset. Then a thick fog fell. We could see about 40 feet, which made it crystal clear why this trail is notoriously riddled with thieves. Suddenly, this impromptu adventure didn’t seem like such a good idea. At least our tour guide was carrying a machete.

BEIJING – A cluster of Asian gals gathered a few feet away from me on the sidewalk, staring, squealing and laughing as I munched on what tasted like the extra-crispy sliver-ends of McDonald’s french fries. I was actually chomping on a fried cricket.

BEIJING — I scampered up the Olympic Park subway station’s steps this afternoon, eager to reach the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. But I didn’t get there soon enough. The dingy, cotton-thick haze beat me to it. It muffled my photo-snapping enthusiasm. And it covered my crumpled-up Kleenex with soot-colored snot.

Surging gas prices and airline fees are making day trips and weekend excursions to New York that much more expensive. Yet one mode of transportation between the Hub and the Big Apple has actually gotten cheaper: the bus. The Globe tested the five low-cost bus lines – BoltBus, MegaBus, Lucky Star, Fung Wah Bus Transportation Inc., and the pooled operations of Greyhound Lines Inc. and Peter Pan Bus Lines. And here’s a chart listing the locations, prices, pros and cons of each bus company.

BoltBus’s inaugural run yesterday from Boston’s South Station to New York’s Penn Station started smoothly, but ended with a screech – literally – as the shiny new motor coach, which was running more than an hour late, loudly scraped against construction equipment.